he's going to look at me and say okay, what's next? and i'll be ready to give him some answers and some suggestions. and that's whether you're the vp or whether you're the chairman of the transition. that's what i'm really focused on, that i want -- and i said this to a group of people we were interviewing for the transition yesterday in washington. i said the product is the most important thing. put aside your ego, put aside which office in the white house you want. the product is the most important thing. and that's whether i'm vice president or whether i'm the head of the transition. that's what i'm focused on. so i'm not worried about that. if there's something he wants me to do, he's not shy. he'll ask. and if it's something i want to do i'll do it. and if it's something i don't want to do i'll look at him and say no thanks. >> really? >> yeah. really. absolutely. if he offers me something that i don't want to do, i won't take it. i don't have to. nicole, i'm a term-limited second-term governor of one of

the most democratic states in america where people never thought i was going to win once, let alone twice. as my oldest son said to me after the presidential race was over, he said, you know, dad, i'm disappointed. he goes, but you've had a pretty good career. >> he's proud. >> he's okay. he's okay with it. and so am i. no matter what happens next. >> you mentioned bush 41. i was up in maine on monday. i saw him. and i interviewed jeb. and you and i both worked for george w. bush. can you understand how the family is sort of sitting this cycle out, how good people that you and i both respect can't get there on donald trump? >> you know, initially yes. when there were other people in the race that they might think might be better suited. but i have a hard time understanding it now because i just don't believe that hillary clinton is the person we want to be president. and i heard jeb say in his

interview with you monday, people talk like it's a binary choice. well, it is. it is. >> so obama's right, chicken or fish? >> it's a binary choice. it is. gary johnson's not going to be president of the united states. >> but he might get to 15% -- >> whatever. it doesn't matter. let me tell you this. this is how much i'm willing to bet every dollar i have, nicole, is gary johnson's not to be standing on the steps of the capitol on january 20th taking the oath of office. and bill weld shouldn't go measure the drapes at the naval observatory. it's not going to happen. so it is a binary choice. and what i would encourage all republicans to think about is who do they want filling vacancies on the supreme court? fwhausz a huge impact on our country. and there's lots of other issues. who do you want dealing with health care going forward? who do you want dealing with the tax code in this country going forward? who do you want dealing with job creation going forward? do you really want hillary clinton, who's moved further to the left during this campaign

than she's ever been already? and you want her doing it? listen, i have great respect for the bush family. most particularly for president bush 43, who i was honored to serve and who mary pat and i consider to be a very dear friend and a very generous adviser to me during my political career. so i'm not going to be critical of them for making the choices they make. it's their call. but our party has spoken. and the same way people didn't like president bush 43 or didn't like john mccain or didn't like president bush 41, we all said to them at the time the decision's made, come together. it's a better choice than john kerry or barack obama or al gore. well, i believe this is a much better choice than hillary clinton. so i think it's time for everybody to understand this. if you're not -- if you're a republican and you're not working for donald trump you're working for hillary clinton.

>> so jeb bush is helping hillary clinton? >> absolutely. i mean, absolutely that's true. he's not trying to. but what i'm saying is that's the effect of the conduct. >> so a no vote is a vote for hillary? >> correct. >> so paul ryan's saying to the delegates -- we head into the convention on monday and paul ryan is telling the delegates and members of his caulk tous sort of vote their conscience. that's not the right advice? >> no. because the people have spoken. why do we have the primary, nicole? because if we -- listen, there would have been plenty of people who were griping if i won. i've got enemies out there. >> but you didn't propose a muslim ban. you didn't make fun of disabled people on the stump. you didn't call women fat pigs. i disagree. >> i know you disagree. and we've had this disagreement before privately but this is now down to a binary choice. it is a binary choice. it's either donald trump or hillary clinton. and my point is i'm not saying anyone else has to do it.

but i do think it's inconsistent for people to have signed the pledge, which i signed, saying i was going to support the nominee then not do it. i do think it's inconsistent to say, as all of us did during the primary, we will be governed by the will of our voters with a deep voice and a real sense of gravitas. right? unless i disagree with it. i mean, the fact is -- like i said, i was my first choice. i didn't win. then i had to make a choice beyond that, i felt, about who was the person that gave us the best chance to beat hillary clinton. and that should be the goal. and the reason why a no vote is a vote for hillary is because that's a vote that should be for the republican nominee. i can -- i would be willing to bet that jeb never voted for a democrat for president. it means he voted for a republican for president. and that's a vote that gets taken away. that's one less vote. you've got to get to about 65 million votes to win this thing.

that's one less. it is a binary choice. but again, i'm not going to be critical of anybody who exercises their right to make their choice. but if you're asking me -- >> i'm asking. >> you're asking me do i think that assists hillary clinton's cause? i believe it dpupz and we don't have any business assisting hillary clinton's cause as republicans. and i don't believe our country will be well served by a hillary and bill clinton presidency. >> this is a fascinating conversation because of who it is and when it's taking place. as i said, there's every likelihood nicole wallace is still there at the christies' house in mendham, new jersey. part of her conversation included mary pat christie. but it is a long conversation. we chose that portion because the questioning zeroed in on the topic of the hour and the topic of the day. by this time tomorrow officially

donald trump will have appeared with his choice of running mate. there is every possibility that on about this afternoon, early evening, evening, which is why we're advising our loyal viewers not to get far from a television today as we go on throughout the day, there's every possibility that trump's choice will haleak that we'll at least know who it's p. but here you have a conversation with two republican politicos, both of whom have a lot in common including but not limited to service to george w. bush, 43, talking very candidly about donald trump, about the possibility of chris christie being chosen to run with donald trump. there was some reporting overnight that christie's value in the race has fallen a bit, that maybe the smart money is on mike pence of the state of

indiana. again, we'll know officially in less than 24 hours, and we may know through the kind of inevitable leaks in this process a good deal before that. perhaps this afternoon. perhaps this evening. it is a fascinating conversation. you'll see more of this as the day goes on. but first, we are eight minutes into the hour that is normally the territory of my friend and colleague andrea mitchell in washington. without delay, andrea. >> thanks so much. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. on the democratic side as we were watching chris christie, hillary clinton has been campaigning at one of the prophet prominent hispanic-american organizations. at the same time she was confronted with some very unpleasant poll numbers today. a new "new york times"/cbs poll out this morning has her tied with donald trump and 67% of those polled do not trust her. a five-point jump in that

negative factor in just the last month, reflecting that blistering fbi all right on her e-mails only last week. clinton has a busy day eyre in washington just finishing speaking to lulac, a hispanic-american organization. a key theme her stance on immigration, on the dreamers and her criticism of trump on those issues. she's also trying out possible running mates today, rallying in virginia this afternoon with senator tim kaine, another front-runner one of her oldest friends tom vilsack the secretary of agriculture, former governor of iowa who joins me now. governor, secretary, thank you very much. >> good to see you. >> you heard a good part of chris christie. how would you as a prominent hillary clinton surrogate counteract what he is saying on behalf of donald trump? >> i think the most important question, whether you're republican or democrat or an independent, has is who is in the best position to lead this country forward? it's not who is in the best position to help the republican party or who's in the best position to help the democratic party. it's who is in the best position to lead this country forward?

and i think there's no question about that. it's fairly oscar to me and to a lot of americans that hillary clinton has the vision to move this country forward economically and she understands america's place in the world that we have to work together. so i think he asked the wrong question, and i think voters in november will be asking the right question. >> one of the other questions that i need to ask is about her trustworthiness. p you this poll shows 67% of those polled by the "new york times" and cbs do not find her trustworthy. that's a five-point jump. how does she counteract that? and why does she deserve to be president of the united states? >> i think there are a couple of things. first of all, i think you have to look deeper into the poll. they probably also asked the question which of these candidates understands where you're coming from, which of these candidates can you better relate to? and i think what you're going to find there is hillary clinton has the edge over donald trump. i think you earn trust over the course of the campaign and i think hillary will do that by speaking to the needs of people in this country. she's going to speak to the needs of a single mom who needs to know where is my child care going to come from. she's going to speak to the needs of a college kid who's going to wonder how can i afford

college education? she's going to speak to the needs of a business owner who wants to know are you going to be helpful to small business. i think she has answers to all of those questions, and as this campaign rolls out you're going to compare that to the trump campaign. and honestly, sometimes i wonder about donald trump in terms of how he makes decisions. i think he has actually a ouija board in the back of that trump airplane that he consults from time to time because he's all over the map on issues. and i think at the end of the day people are going to be very concerned about his inability to be straightforward, his inability to give a straight answer to all of these policy issues that are extremely important. >> you know iowa so well. you were the governor of iowa. you were mayor in iowa. donald trump got a big vote in iowa. hillary clinton barely, barely beat bernie sanders in iowa. could you tep her in iowa? >> well, i'm going to help her in iowa and any other state she wants me to help. i'll be glad to do whatever she

needs to be the next president of the united states. i think iowans have the same kind of concerns that people in other states, my home state of pennsylvania have. and that is is this person prepared to be president. is this someone who understands america's place in the world? is this someone who understands how we're going to build on the economic growth we've seen recently and expands it to make sure every family gets an advantage. is this a person who's going to advance equal pay? is this a person who understands the need for a raise in minimum wage? is this a person who understands the need for infrastructure investment? if you start asking those questions, you're going to find that there is a consistent vote for hillary clinton because she has a plan. she is a doer. that's what people need to understand about her. she is an incredibly hard-working person. and she is a doer. she gets thingsz thin done. that's what people want in the president. >> despite her resume when i was interviewing bernie sanders supporters in new hampshire, who'd come to the sanders endorsement of him hillary clinton the other day.

they had some problems with trust and some of it goes back to the e-mail question. one of the things we know from reading all these e-mails, thousands and thousands of pages as they were released, is that nobody was telling her no, you can't do that or you shouldn't do that or this is not advisable or this is against white house guidance. now, you were a cabinet secretary. you did not have a private server. you knew about using the official agriculture department e-mails for government business. nobody in that state department in that inner circle for people who knew her for so long was able or willing to stand up and say madam secretary, this is not a good idea. >> look, she's not going to have that problem in terms of the white house. there are going to be plenty of people that are going to be surrounding her -- >> what does it say about her management and the ability of people to give her bad news? that's what presidents need to hear sometimes. >> i think she is going to have plenty of folks who are going to be very sensitive to the notion of making sure they have her back and making sure that she's making the right decisions. that's not an issue here. to me the issue is how do you make the case to the american

people? how do you know and how can they be sure you're on their side? i think again if you look at the polling numbers, are you on my side, yes. i understand the need for equal pay. i understand the need for raising the minimum wage. those are very, very specific issues to families in this country. and i think that is what this campaign has to be about. where is donald trump on minimum wage? he actually thinks a lower minimum wage is better. where is he on equal pay? where is he on this issue of infrastructure funding? his plan is to cut taxes for wealthy people and to deregulate businesses. we've gone down that road before and it gave us the great recession. we've worked our way back. we've built a stronger economy. now we have to take the next step to make sure this economy is working for every single american family. >> and why would you be a better running mate than tim kaine who she's going to be rallying with today? >> listen, the great thing about hillary clinton is she has an incredible array of people who are prepared to be vice president and prepared to be president, god forbid something happens to her. compare that to the republican

situation where there are people actually saying no, thank you. not interested. not me. i'm not even going to go to the convention. i would much rather be hillary clinton in terms of the broad array of people who are interested and prepared for that job than i would donald trump who is a very narrow group of people now interested in that job. >> she took him not before lulac today. i want to play a little bit of that for you. >> they will nominate someone who thinks latino outreach is tweeting a picture of a taco bowl. what a difference a few years make. donald trump is temperamentally unfit to be president of the united states. >> yet they are tied in this latest poll. >> polls are going to fluctuate fr from this point until the end of this process but at the end of the day americans are going to make the right choice. i trust them.

hillary trusts them to make the right choice. >> speaking of right choices, comfort and compatibility to govern together is a big deal. tell us a little bit about how long you've known hillary clinton. >> our families go back to 1974 when my brother-in-law shared office space with hillary during the nixon impeachment process. i can tell you that when i ran for governor in 1998 very few people gave me a chance. i was 23 points behind. we hadn't elected a democrat in 30 years in my state. hillary clinton was concerned and cared about my race and really went well overboard in terms of providing help and assistan assistance. and i think that's one of the reasons why i was successful. we go back a long way. i have an incredible amount of respect for her. and i will trust her with my family's life and my grandchildren's lives in terms of being the next president of the united states. i do not trust donald trump with that future. >> mr. secretary tom vilsack, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> we have breaking news here in washington. a stunning reversal from the most outspoken member of the supreme court, justice ruth bader ginsburg trying to end a controversy she created by

taking verbal shots at donald trump. releasing this statement a short time ago. "on reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and i regret making them. judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. in the future i will be more circumspect." nbc justice correspondent pete williams broke that story and joins me now. pete? >> well, andrea, i think it's a bit of a surprise. everything about this has been surprising. the comments themselves and now the justice saying what was i thinking in essence. we were told yesterday that there was a possibility that the justice might be working on such a statement. i think the feeling was that she wanted to see what kind of things people were saying. and the fact is, andrea, that while she had some supporters, of course justice girngz is a very popular justice, she has a considerable following, but even among many of them there were many saying this goes too far. and she mentions in her statement the fact that there is

a canon for lower court judges that says they shouldn't either support or oppose candidates for public office and she says in essence, you know, i should abide by that rule. the other problem here of course was the fact that many legal scholars were saying that by being so forward leaning here, by sort of ratcheting up every time she made these statements, she opened herself up to the possibility that if a, for example, bush v. gore type contest over the election came to the supreme court or if trump were elected, some major trump initiative came to the court that there would be calls for her to recuse herself because of her sharply -- sharp statements about trump. so for those reasons i think she finally decided that this was the right thing to do. she's going to be going overseas next week as many of the justices do for teaching, for other events, and we're told she doesn't have any more time for interviews. so i think certainly she thinks that this -- she hopes this is the last we hear of this.

>> pete williams, thanks so much. with the breaking news from the supreme court. a regret from the justice about her political comments. thanks, pete. and for reaction to that and other political news of the day, from capitol hill, nbc's luke russert joining me now. luke, first of all, let's talk about the fact hillary clinton heading your way. she's going to be meeting with senate democrats including bernie sanders of course and tim kay sxn then going with tim kaine out to a rally in virginia, a battleground in virginia. clearly a tryout. there's a lot of buzz out there about the democratic presumptive nominee -- >> oh, without doubt. and andrea, this will be the first time she will meet with the senate democratic caucus after bernie sanders, a fellow senator who caucused with the democrats, endorsed hillary clinton. expect this to be a pretty i think joyful occasion. they're really going to rally behind her. but that is the speculation, that tim kaine, the person she's going to have that rally with later in the day, is presumed to be one of the front-runners

along with secretary perez, elizabeth warren, other floiktz. so it will be interesting to see how she gajtz room, and if you sort of see the emergence of a relationship with king inside of this meeting -- kaine inside of this meeting on capitol hill. tim kaine, a former governor, been outspoken against president obama for having a lack of authorization for using a military force agreement in iraq and syria regarding going after isis. so he has those progressive bona fides and foreign policy experience. also happens to speak fluid spanish and was a member of the jesuit volunteer corps. he's an all-around very much liked guy and has a lot of support for folks in the caucus room. i'm wonder field goal they're goi going to nudge her in one direction either kaine or perez or elizabeth warren, wherever that may fall. >> and you also were over on the house side where paul ryan had his briefing and you sort of twisted his arm to react to justice ginsburg and all that

because it's actually your last day on the hill. but we'll talk about that later. let me play some of that tape. >> i think it was a big mistake. >> can i have a last one? i'm retiring. [ laughter ] >> it was a pump fake. >> what do you make of ruth bader ginsburg's comment that she'd move to new zealand if donald trump is president? >> i -- look, i mean, what about impartial judges here? what about impartial judges do we not get here? she very well may be involved in adjudicating cases coming from a president trump. so it just goes to say that she ought to be impartial. so remember bush versus gore? pretty important case. >> that's classic luke russert. you always get them to answer your questions. as long as i've known you, you've been tearing up the hill. that was a pretty interesting response from the speaker of the house. >> it was fascinating. and i think it very much elaborates upon what our justice correspondent pete williams

said, andrea, which is yeah, what happened if there were to be, heaven forbid, a bush v. gore type of case or what if there is a major trump initiative that comes before that court? rest assured that if there is anything even similar a president trump had with president obama with his kaelt air law, you're going to have a lot of republicans say you know what justice ginsburg should not be able to comment on this because she said she wanted to go to new zealand if donald trump became president. that's a story that if trump is elected definitely keep an eye on because the difference between the branches here, the republican leadership is very much involved in that. they believe in the real separation of the executive, legislative branch and judicial and this is something that could come up with a president trump and different types of lawsuits in 2017. what a wild story that would be. >> thanks to you, luke. thanks for everything. no one has covered the hill better. you have just been extraordinary. and i know you're moving on to bigger and better things. >> well, thank you so much for having me. and i thank you so much for

caring about capitol hill. and i thank so much the viewers for caring about capitol hill. and remember, people can say whatever they want to say on the campaign trail. it doesn't mean anything if they can't get it through a committee and they can't get if through the floor that goes right near my right hand and get it through the senate right behind me. the whole game's right here. keep paying attention. >> well, as a former congressional correspondent for nbc news, that's why i love so much what you do. thanks, luke. it means a lot to me. >> be well. >> and by this time tomorrow the wait will be over. we will finally know who made the cut for donald trump's vice president. donald trump tweeting out last night he will announce his choice for a running mate tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. in manhattan. nbc news's katy tur joins me now from trump tower. katy. reading tea leaves but also relying heavily on your sources. what do you think is going on now, the choices -- the final choices? >> well, luke hit the nail on the head. the campaign -- if donald trump doesn't know it, the campaign

knows that they're not going to be able to get anything done if they getim into the white house and he hasn't made any friends on capitol hill. he hasn't found a way to get along and found a way to push through legislation. and that's why they're looking at three potential vp picks so carefully. chris christie, newt gingrich, and governor mike pence. who's going to best be able to not only gel with donald trump but also gel with the establishment, gel with those who are actually putting through legislation and who will be able to put through donald trump's agenda on capitol hill. glienk pence right now one of the favorites. i was speaking to a source right now who was telling me repeatedly they have two very good guys in contention right now. that person used governor pence's name with governor christie's name and also used governor pence's name with newt gingrich's name. so reading the tea leaves, it would make me believe that it's potentially governor pence or one of the others. and it's down to governor pence

and christie or newt gingrich. i know the three of them are hunkering down today. chris christie talking to nicole wallace, making his final pitch. governor pence out and about in indiana avoiding reporters at the moment. and newt gingrich scheduling a facebook live chat to talk about it. gingrich has said that he will know by 1:00 whether he is the vp. and that time, as you know, andrea, is fast approaching. so far, though, all my sources say that ultimately donald trump is going to pick somebody who gels with his personality, somebody he feels he can get along with. that is not to say that governor pence is out of the running in any way. contrary to what people may have expected, donald trump and governor pence got along quite well when they met both at his new jersey golf course and the other day when they were campaigning together in indiana. donald trump even remarking how impressed he was with governor pence's performance on stage, his ability to be an attack dog

when needed but also his calm demeanor and his potential ability to balance out the ticket. >> katy tur on the watch making calls. thank you very much. and coming up, security fears mount ahead of the republican convention. is cleveland prepared? secret service director joseph clancy joining us next for his first live television interview. that's next right here on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. defiance is in our bones. our citracal bones. easily absorbed calcium plus vitamin d. defy bone aging with citracal maximum. our highest level of calcium plus d. the earth needed to find a new waytury, to keep up with the data from over 30 billion connected devices. just 30 billion? a bold group of researchers and computer scientists in silicon valley, had a breakthrough they called... the machine. it changed computing forever.

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and these are the lungs. (boy) sorry. (dad) don't worry about it. (vo) at our house, we need things that are built to last. that's why we got a subaru. (avo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. i am concerned about the prospect of demonstrations getting out of hand. i am concerned about the possibility of violence. we have within dhs some 3,000 personnel that will be dedicated to the security of the republican national convention and the democratic national convention each. so i think we have to be

concerned about things getting out of hand very definitely. but there will be a lot of security and a lot of preparation in place. >> that was secretary of homeland security jeh johnson saying he is concerned about the protests that are expected it take place at the republican national convention, which is now only four days away. officials are making last-minute security changes in response to the deadly ambush on police in dallas. tens of thousands are expected to protest outside the convention, where it is legal to openly carry a firearm. joining me now is secret service joseph clancy, who has a major role in all of this. this is considered a secret >> referee: event. these are the major events, conventions and the like, like the super bowl. any of these other big events come under your jurisdiction as well. you and jeh johnson going to cleveland tomorrow to personally inspect what's in place and brief people and be briefed. >> that's correct, andrea. in fact, i was over there in

cleveland tuesday and did some walk-throughs there. i've been out there a few times. tomorrow secretary johnson and i will go out personally again to take a look at the arrangements. and we've been keeping secretary johnson up to speed throughout several briefings the last several months. >> how has dallas and the protests over the two police shootings, baton rouge and in minnesota, how has that changed the climate and the preparations? >> well, first i'd say that the secret service certainly they're in our hearts and prayers. all the victims over the last several weeks, what's transpired here in the country. but we plan for all events the best we can. we look at all the possibilities that are out there. and we do that through tabletop exercises. we bring all the different public safety and law enforcement entities at all levels together and we do several scenarios of what can be expected. whether it's a sniper attack or whether it's a mass attack or whether it's large protests, small protests or even medical issues. so all the scenarios we can dream up we put out on the table

and discuss them. >> you have had to ramp up, though, add layers of security since all of this unrest has unfolded in the last couple weeks? >> no, i wouldn't say that we've added assets. again, when we went out there and we sent our coordinators out to cleveland and philadelphia, approximately nine months ago, and we've developed a plan with our partners and our partners have been terrific partners throughout this planning process. we've planned for every scenario so we don't have to ramp up based on what happens in the country that day. >> what are some things people should know who are planning to go to the convention, not just delegates and the protesters. >> there's going to be structure. there's going to be some inconveniences because there's a lot of checkpoints. there's magnetometers. we do that so everyone can have a safe, secure environment to enjoy the rnc and the dnc as well. but i would say that the secret service respects everyone's first amendment rights and we want to make sure that everyone has a chance to be heard. whether you're participating in the arena, quicken loans arena,

or whether you're out in the street. and that's why we put these structures in place. >> ohio has an open carry law, as of course texas did. what about that fact, that people can carry guns? does that stop at the perimeter? >> at the perimeter of the secure zone that the secret service has set up. but andrea, i'll tell you, this is not something new. as you know, the president and vice president, they travel in states where there are these open carry laws. certainly we abide by that and respect that. and we have enough assets in place to try to accommodate those. >> and the ohio officials and ohio security, how prepared are they? are other jurisdictions helping them out? other states coming in? >> yes. they're very well prepared. from our time out there, first i'll tell you i've met chief williams several times now, and he's a very impressive leader. so that gives me great confidence, number one. and also, the cleveland police

department. i know they want to show their best, as we do, the secret service, and all the other entities that are out there. but they've gone through significant training. they've done it themselves, the cleveland police, but also through the national security event subcommittees that have not v. been set up. we've got one just for training. they've gone through significant training. >> and what about philadelphia? >> philadelphia same thing. you know, we've got a model for these national special security events. cleveland will be our 53rd. since 1998 we've been doing these. philadelphia will be the 54th. and i think the model that we have in place really works well with the subcommittees. so we can address all different types of issues and scenarios and use the expertise of the local, state, federal agencies as well as the private sector. >> what about counterterrorism and threats of other people trying to take advantage of this large assembly? >> sure. certainly we've stayed in very close contact with the fbi and we have a subcommittee specific to intelligence, and right now there's no specific credible intelligence where people want

to come and do harm. but we of course get timely information and we're very comfortable in that area. >> well, wishing you and everyone else and all of your personnel a safe -- a safe convention in cleveland and then in philadelphia. and it's great to have you here joining us today. thank you. >> well, thank you so much, andrea. my pleasure. >> thank you. the director of the secret service. and coming up, nbc news exclusive. more of bill neely's rare one-on-one interview with syria's president bashar al assad in damascus. that's coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports" right here on msnbc. ing like one. real is making new friends. amazing is getting this close. real is an animal rescue. amazing is over twenty-seven thousand of them. there's only one place where real and amazing live. book a seaworld vacation package and eat free.

built a sandcastle?id? ha, no, i switched to geico and got more. more? 24/7 access online, on the phone or with the geico app. that is more. go get some mud... all that "more" has to be why they're the second-largest auto insurer. everybody likes more. mhm, i think so. geico. expect great savings and a whole lot more. and secretary of state john kerry has arrived in moscow today to meet with russia's president vladimir putin. they are expected to discuss a u.s. proposal to coordinate with moscow on military operations in syria for the first time, including setting up a joint command and control center. after more than five years of civil war secretary kerry is hoping that this deal will reduce the violence in syria.

in an exclusive and rare interview, nbc's bill neely sat down with the embattled syrian president bashar al assad in damascus. in a wide-ranging interview he asked about his relationship with russia and kerry's moscow meeting. the interview was filmed by the presidential press office but there have been no editorial changes, no et cetera to the content. >> and you're not worried in the least about secretary kerry meeting vladimir putin and coming to an understanding in which you may have to leave power? >> no. for one reason. because their politics, i mean the russian politics is not based on making deals. it's based on values. and that's why you don't see any achievement between them and the american because different principle. the american politics based on making deals regardless of the values, which is not the case for the russians. >> and joining me now is nbc's chief global correspondent bill neely. bill, congratulations on the

interview. there were so many lines in it. let me play one other very tough question you asked the syrian dictator after more than 250,000 people have died in that civil war and hundreds and hundreds of thousands more have become refugees, leaving his country. you confronted him about that. >> because you know what the first draft of history is saying, that you're a brutal dictator. you're a man with blood on your hands, more blood on your hands than even on your father. >> no. again, i will draw that example. if you have a doctor who cut the hand because of began greegangre the patient you don't say he's a brutal doctor. he's doing the best to save the rest of the body. so when you protect your country from the terrorists and you defeat terrorists you're not brutal. you are patriot. that's how you look at yourself. and that's how the people want to look at you. >> bill, what did you take away from this? >> well, from that last clip,

andrea, the interesting thing is that personally bashar al assad is charming, but there was the chilling assad because when he talks about cutting the limb he's actually talking about the lives and deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. the first clip on russia interesting as well given what's happening in moscow, the possibility of a u.s.-russian deal that might ground syria's air force. i asked him a couple of times, has there ever been any suggestion in moscow that you might step down? he denied that. i pressed him again. so neither putin nor foreign secretary lavrov have ever discussed or even suggested that you might step aside? and he said no. never. the other interesting thing, and he was quite frank about this, is i reminded him at this time last year when he was saying we're short of troops, we're giving up ground because we have to, and i said what changed in the year? and he was absolutely

unequivocal. he said russia. russia was crucial. russia tipped the balance. andrea? >> and bill, it's so striking, that answer, that last comment that you were just making because we were at the united nations covering president obama, secretary kerry meeting with vladimir putin and within 48 hours the first russian air strikes. so we had no warning at the white house or intelligence. no warning whatsoever that putin was going to do that. and that was the game changer. >> that's absolutely right. i mean, factually i think assad is correct that russia has tipped the balance. he was scathing about u.s. air strikes against isis in his country. he said they were ineffective and indeed they were counterproductive. he said there simply wasn't the political will there from president obama or from anybody else. and he reminded -- or he claimed

in fact that isis had begun and grown up in iraq in 2006 when the united states was there. so perhaps unsurprising, rather, that he was critical of president obama. i asked him many, many questions about donald trump. he said -- i said at one point donald trump seems to respect vladimir putin. does that mean that you feel you that could do business with a potential president trump? and he basically said yes. i asked him what about trump's inexperience in foreign policy? he said basically, it doesn't bother him. andrea? >> and is there any signal from him that he would agree to power sharing with the rebels, whom he has in the past called terrorists? >> no, he -- not at all. in fact, he dismiss ed negotiations just last week at a trap. there's no signs whatsoever that he's interested in negotiations on transition. of course, he hasn't nominated or even signaled any kind of a

successor. so at the minute he's defiant. but more than that, andrea, he's confident. sure of victory. sure of his position. >> well, your timing is incredible. thank you so much, bill neely. just as the u.s. is meeting with vladimir putin about trying to work together, because clearly russia now holds the cards. thank you again. thanks for this interview. and make sure to watch nbc "nightly news" with lester holt later today for more of bill neely's exclusive interview with bashar al assad. and coming up, veepstakes. we're learning new information this hour. stay tuned. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. it's time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. rebecca barlow was running a nanny company when her husband of 13 years suddenly passed away, leaving her to manage his failing water damage business, acme flood. she rebuilt the company from scratch, which is now grossing more than $2 million a year.

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welcome back. in the republican veepstakes there are some signs that it could be governor pence in indiana. we don't know that for sure. and we don't even know whether donald trump has actually made his final decision yet. that is always a big question. joining me now for our daily

fix, chris cillizza msnbc contributor and founder of the "washington post's" fix blog. and msnbc national correspondent joy reid. thanks very much to both of you. chris, what are you hearing from your sources? we think it's boiling down to bringrich or pence. christie was in there in the final running. now some spientzing to pence. it could be that there's no decision yet made by the man and it is singularly his decision. >> and he i think that's right. i was staring at my phone more than normal. i had sent a lot of e-mails to discern what is happening. there's a bit of radio silence in the trump inner circle at the moment. you've seen some tweets from jason miller, his relatively new communications director as well as paul manafort, his campaign manager, saying no final announcement has been made, we'll have an announcement tomorrow at 11:00. from what i can tell and some of the reporting i would point to, the "indianapolis star" has now said it's going to be mike

pence. we do not have that. we the "washington post" do not have that confirmed at this point. >> and neither do we at nbc. and it's not a safe bet right now. >> that's exactly right. what we know about donald trump. and it may end up being mike pence. but what we know about donald trump is this is someone who not just in this political campaign but in the history of his life in the public eye has a tendency to say one thing and maybe make another decision, change his mind, that sort of thing. as early as monday there were reports that he was leaning toward chris christie. so i think with vp stuff there's always reason to just, you know, trust but verify, which i think we're all in the process of doing. and even more so as it relates to donald trump because as you said, this is a singular decision from someone who has shown a willingness to change his mind on big zmajz thinthingl thoinkz t things over the course of his campaign and his life. >> if it is mike pence, he has

to by noon tomorrow -- indianapolis is on the eastern time zone. he has to withdraw his name from the ballot. that's the deadline. noon tomorrow. because he's currently running for re-election as governor. there is a lot of pressure, i have confirmed, in republican circles in indiana on former governor, the current president of purdue university who's been out of politics for a while but highly regarded, mitch daniels to then jump into the race so that they would have a strng ticket. already you've seen birch bye on the democratic side -- evan bayh. the son of -- >> the timing, noon tomorrow being the deadline, 11:00 being the announcement, that's consistent with the possibility of mike pence. it doesn't mean it's him but it's consistent with that possibility. >> and andrea, i will tell you that in the last four hours the local press in indiana has reported that mitch daniels has

thrown cold water on the idea of himself jumping into that governor's race. that's always been one of the big wild cards, as you said, would mitch daniels come in. because think about it, if evan bayh is going to be on that statewide ballot that gives democrats a fighting chance in a state that barack obama did win in 2008. it's an important rust belt state. there are a lot of moving chess pieces here. but if mitch daniels is in fact saying no to that re-elect you've got to think that the republican governors association is going to want to see mike pence stay in and try to go for his re-election. but isn't chris christie the head of the rga? or at least he was. it's a lot of machinations and moving pieces. >> and joy reid, we have to keep an eye on some of the latest polling. we'll be talking to you about that later. ohio and pennsylvania. donald trump has zero percentage of african-american votes. it's pretty extraordinary. >> it's pretty extraordinary. if you look at the margin of error that means it gives him up to 3%. it's still really dismal. i think donald trump is looking at a historically low turnout among african-americans. but i did recently speak with white voters in lorraine, ohio

and those are the voters he should be doing well with, white working-class steel workers. he's not really winning them over either. so he's got a lot of problems. >> joy reid, chris cillizza, stay on top of all of this. thank you. and make sure to tune in this weekend for more of joy reid. "a.m. joy" airs on msnbc weekend mornings from 10:00 a.m. to noon eastern. coming up, clinton on the hill. donald trump preparing to announce his running mate. all of this while hillary clinton takes capitol hill for the first time since becoming the presumptive nominee. we belt isn't just a score. it's a skill. and like anything else, you can get better. so we make it easy for you to spot trouble in your report. or know if fraud is hurting your fico score. and if you need it, a dedicated fraud resolution agent can help you set things right. after all, watching over your credit is one of the most important skills of all. go to experian.com to enroll in experian creditworks today.

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and secretary hillary clinton expected on capitol hill at this hour. nbc's kristen welker covering the clinton campaign, joining us now on the phone from the capitol. the senate side of the capitol where she's meeting with her former colleagues, the senate democrats. a couple of people in that group include tim kaine. she's going to be campaigning with later today. of course elizabeth warren, who's endorsed her so warmly.

and bernie sanders, who endorsed her only this week. >> andrea, that's right. and senator elizabeth warren just walked by reporters briskly, didn't stop to answer any questions. we did just speak with senator claire mccaskill, of course one of secretary clinton's top surrogates. i asked her about some of the recent polling which shows this race is now in a dead heat. she said she is not concerned about that, that ultimately she thinks secretary clinton will pull ahead, and made the point we hear so frequently, that the polls go back and forth. but look, this is secretary clinton's chance to meet with senate democrats, her first meeting since she got that critical endorsement from senator sanders. clinton campaign officials tell me this is a chance for her to update her former colleagues on the state of the campaign, her plans for the general election, and of course to talk about her key policy priorities. topics could include immigration. she was talking about that earlier today. health care reform of course and the minimum wage as well. this is all about party unity, andrea. that has been the theme this week. and she is hoping to build on that with this meeting.

then of course today she heads out to northern virginia where she's going to hold that big event with senator tim kaine. as you pointed out, one of her possible vp choices. and that's going to be a real test run. there are going to be a lot of eyes on that campaign event a little bit later on today. but we are waiting here for secretary clinton to arrive at the u.s. capitol. reporters are gathered. and of course we have our questions including about the latest poll numbers which include that 67% of voters you've been talking about today, andrea, who say they cannot trust her. a critical question for secretary clinton today, how does she start to build trust among voters? heading into the general and of course into the convention. andrea. >> and kristen, while you've been speaking, we were looking at a live feed from the pool camera. right now she was laying a wreath at the national law enforcement memorial downtown in d.c. on her way to you on capitol hill. it's only a few blocks away. she just walked by the cameras down there and laid flowers at the memorial.

so clearly with a symbolic gesture to the loss of the police officers in dallas. we see her now standing at that memorial. as i say, only a few blocks away from where you are on capitol hill. she's then going to be meeting with the democrats. but she's been speaking out, as she did in springfield, illinois, about the loss of life and trying to touch both on the loss of law enforcement life, the police deaths, the sadness and the sacrifice by them and their families, the tensions between police and african-americans and other members of the minority communities, and also what happened in baton rouge, what happened in minnesota. so she's been trying to touch on both of those issues as she tours this memorial. we're seeing den from the pool that is with her, as always when she is traveling, there's always a group of reporters and a camera. and they're doing their best to keep up with her with a live feed from there. right now we have a live picture

from outside the lbj room. that's where the senate democrats caucus once a week. it's the senate lunch, the weekly lunch. this is a little bit later in the week because usually it's on a tuesday but this is a special occasion where hillary clinton was a very popular democratic senator. kristen, i covered her up there on the hill. and she came from being first lady and was elected in 2000. of course in 2001 she was a freshman senator. and she really followed the protocols. unexpectedly to some who had seen her as a political star. she never made floor speeches. she didn't speak up. she deferred to senior colleagues. and really went to the back of the line and worked across the aisle with john mccain, with lindsey graham on armed services issues. she paid her dues on the hill. that was one of the things that made her extraordinarily popular before she became secretary of state. with these live pictures we're going to leave you. on "andrea mitchell reports."

craig melvin picks it up next from cleveland right here on msnbc. hi, everyone. good thursday to you. i'm craig melvin here in cleveland, ohio. we're at erie island coffee. again, the 2016 republican national convention just days away. more on that in just a moment. right now, though, we continue to look at what's happening there in washington, d.c. former secretary of state hillary clinton just laid a wreath, she laid some flowers down at the national law enforcement memorial there in washington. she is making her way to capitol hill. she is expected to be visiting with senate democrats there. we just saw a live look there outside the lbj room on capitol hill. kristen welker has been covering the clinton campaign for us. kristen, what can we expect from this meeting between hillary and